ScoobyDoo and Grimm's Ghost
by ElisabethCarter
Summary: The gang is attending Hollow Oak Camp, but what happens when a mysterious ghost tries to scare them off? Can these strangers solve a mystery together? This is my version of how it all began! 1st fanfic EVER so please tell me what you think! T to be safe
1. A Freindship Set in Motion

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to say that I'm really happy that you're reading my story. This is my first one EVER so I apologize if it's not great. Be sure to review and tell me what you think of it so I can improve! I do not own any of the characters or scenes from Scooby-Doo.

_Chapter 1 A Friendship Set in Motion_

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers sat alone in his messy room. He looked around, finding random food-wrappers and clothes that littered the floor, which was very difficult to see.

Most of the members of Hollow Oak Camp were forced to share rooms with another person, though recently Shaggy's roommate had been frightened away, claiming that he had seen the Grimm's ghost, a mythical apparition that was said to haunt the halls of the building they were staying in. This structure was known as the Grimm Manor, named for its former owner. It was located on the outskirts of a dark forest, giving it an ominous feeling. In the past, this place had been a great tourist attraction, though it was losing business due to claims of seeing Grimm's ghost.

Shaggy, being a natural coward, had not wanted to stay in a supposedly haunted building, but his parents had forced him to go to Hollow Oak that summer and he had no choice.

Shaggy had gotten his nickname from the messy brown mop of hair that sat atop his head, often covering his caramel eyes. His room was located on the second floor of Grimm Manor, in a part of the house that was almost never used. Consequently, he was often alone.

Directly above Shaggy's room, an exceptionally smart girl named Velma Dinkley was sitting on her bed with her laptop, writing a mystery. She twirled a strand of her dark hair that had come out of its bob.

On the first floor of Grimm Manor, in a very secluded corner, Daphne Blake, a member of one of the richest families in the area, was reading a mystery novel. Daphne was considered popular at the camp, although she wished she wasn't. She, like her close friend Velma, often found more pleasure in adventurous books than in the company of others.

She twisted a lock of her soft, strawberry-blonde hair as she focused on the plot of the book, wondering why real life couldn't be as exciting as the lives of the detectives in her novels.

The Blake family wealth was rivaled only by the Joneses. Fred Jones, another popular kid at Hollow Oak, was captain of the football team in high school, had great abs, ocean-blue eyes, and blonde hair—in other words, he was the High School heartthrob. Fred, being the most popular guy at around, had an equally well-known girlfriend, Terri Miller. Terri was the classic cliquey bitch. She was an absolutely dreadful person, but her looks seemed to prevent anyone from caring. Thankfully for all those attending Hollow Oak, Terri had refused to go to the camp, complaining that it was too scary. This bothered Fred, for he wished she had more sense of adventure.

Hollow Oak Camp was basically an organization that took teenagers on field trips to locations surrounded by mystery and intrigue, such as the haunted Grimm Manor. The counselor would divide the campers into groups with people the same age as them, though each person would be from a different social class. This was to promote the forming of friendships between the popular kids and the nerds, the bullies and the bullied.

Daphne anxiously smoothed her hair and fixed her purple sundress as she took a seat in the Meeting Room, which had originally been a living room. Velma sat down and completely ignored the rumpled appearance of her orange sweater and red skirt. Meanwhile, Shaggy threw on an old green T-shirt and some khaki pants, excited to find out who else would be in his group. Fred wore a white shirt with a blue collar and jeans, desperately hoping that he would like the people in his group.

Shaggy was getting ready to leave his room when Scooby-Doo, his brown Great Dane, ran over and jumped on him.

Shaggy laughed. "Scoob, you're slobbering all over my shirt."

"Sorry, Raggy," Scooby said. "Good ruck today."

"Thanks, buddy," he responded. Shaggy gave the dog one quick pat on the head before he hurried down to the Meeting Room.

"Now I know you're all very excited to hear which group you've been assigned to," Mr. Carter said. He was the head of Hollow Oak Camp. "But you must remember to be nice to everyone. Your group is your family for the next few weeks, so I expect you all to get along, even if they aren't the type of people you usually hang out with."

With that having been said, Carter began calling out the names of people in each group, which were always called something stupid, such as "Ghostbusters" or "Adventure Squad."

"Winona Benson, Cindy James, Dylan Berkowitz, Jeffery Martel, and Sheldon Wallace will be in 'Grimm's Gang,' " Carter announced. "And last but not least, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Norville Rogers, Velma Dinkley, and Justin Hart will be in 'Mystery Inc.' You may all return to your rooms but in one hour there you will all report to designated areas to talk to the other members of your group."

All of the campers dispersed. An hour later, they gathered in the specified locations to meet their group.

As Daphne walked toward the old library located right next to her room, she wondered what type of people Norville Rogers was. She knew Fred from school, though she always thought he was far too self-centered, Justin had been her boyfriend for about a month, and she and Velma were close friends so Norville was really the only one she hadn't met. She hoped he was nice.

Fred made his way over to the library as well, anxious to form new friendships. He was so sick of all the shallow people that surrounded him and he prayed that this group would be different.

Shaggy dragged his feet as he went to join his group. He had never been great at making friends, for everyone thought he was rather strange. But he needed to meet some new people, so this would be a good experience for him.

Velma was already in the library. She had spent all her free time there, reading the history of the Manor and uncovering some very interesting detective stories.

All four of them were completely oblivious to the fact that this day would change and define the rest of their lives.


	2. The Fight, the Meeting, and the Visitor

_Chapter 2 The Fight, the Meeting, and the Visitor_

As Daphne walked toward the doors, her eyes rested upon a familiar, unwelcome figure waiting for her. It was Justin Hart, her ex-boyfriend.

"Get away from me," she said simply but threateningly. Daphne, though she was popular and very sweet, had a terrible temper at times.

"Come on, babe," Justin said, smiling and apparently not getting the hint. He followed eagerly behind Daphne as she tried to walk away from him. "I know you still want me."

"You don't know anything," she spat back.

"Come on." Now he grabbed her arm, more forcefully than she had expected. "Let's get back together."

"No!" she shouted. "Let me go!"

As Daphne raised her voice, it caught the attention of Fred, who now made his way over to the arguing couple. He could tell that, despite her desperate efforts to escape his grasp, Justin was still much stronger than Daphne and she needed help.

"Hey, leave her alone," Fred commanded firmly.

"Stay out of this, Jones," Justin snapped.

"Justin, get away from me," Daphne said, squirming and ignoring Fred's offer to help.

It was clear that Justin had no intention of releasing his ex-girlfriend. Instead, he held on to her arm tighter, causing Daphne to feel like her bone was being crushed. Fred, always helping those in need, could not stand to see the girl getting injured in front of him. Fred took hold of Justin's wrist and yanked it away from her.

"She told you to get off."

"This isn't your fight, Jones," Justin responded, looking more like a rabid dog than an angry teenager.

"I just made it my fight."

"Alright," he growled. "Have it your way."

Right after he uttered these words, Justin pounced on Fred and began to punch at any available part of his body. Fred was trying to defend himself, but Justin's surprise attack had given him an unfair advantage. It seemed as though Fred had been knocked out. Daphne did not want to see the two boys fight, so she grabbed on to the back of her ex-boyfriend's shirt and gave it a good tug. This was enough to temporarily disorient him.

Justin spun on his heel, realizing that Daphne had turned against him. He was now angrier than ever and began to approach Daphne in an ominous manner. She was not about to let him harm her. Instead, she swung back her fist and hit him square in the nose, to which he responded by striking her cheek with the back of his hand, causing her to fall backward onto the floor.

By now, Fred had regained his consciousness and punched Justin to prevent him from harming Daphne anymore. That made Justin fall and hit his head on the ground. Unfortunately, the commotion had alerted Carter, who now made his way over to the three brawling students.

"Blake, Jones, Hart," Carter said. "Come here right now."

The three immediately ceased their fight and walked over to him, their heads hanging low in a mixture of embarrassment for being caught in the fight and rage left over from it.

"You three had better work out your differences some other way, because you will be spending a lot of time together while you're at this camp!"

Justin, Fred, and Daphne remained silent.

"Your group must stay in this library and bond for at least two hours," Carter told them. "But first, I want the three of you to go back to your rooms for half an hour to cool off. We want to encourage friendship not fighting." He paused for a breath. "Now, would you mind telling me what happened?" he asked.

Justin, Fred, and Daphne all began speaking at the same time, making it difficult for Carter to fully understand what had caused Justin's bleeding nose, Fred's black eye, or the light bruise forming on Daphne's cheek.

"That freak attacked me—"

"You see, he's my ex-boyfriend—"

"I was just trying to help out—"

"Enough!" Carter shouted. "I don't really care. Just try to get along." He looked as though he was about to walk away, but thought of something. He added, "And I don't want to hear about any of you getting in more trouble."

Then Carter left, causing the other three to stand in an awkward silence. Justin glared at Fred and Daphne before storming off in the other direction. Fred looked relieved to see him go and was about to speak to the girl who he had just saved, but she looked angry as well. Indeed, Daphne shot him a nasty look before she, too, stomped away, leaving Fred alone and confused.

The three of them returned to their separate rooms while Shaggy was being informed that their "group meeting" had been postponed. Carter then tried to talk to Shaggy about something very uninteresting. Consequently, Shaggy's eyes traveled toward a nearby window, allowing his mind to wander. During a particularly boring part of the conversation, Shaggy could have sworn that he saw something white and creepy fly right outside. He jolted upright and tried to see what it was. Unfortunately, as he searched, he realized that the figure had vanished.

"Zoinks," he whispered.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Rogers?" Carter asked.

"I saw something out there, man," Shaggy explained. "I swear, it was, like, right there."

"Norville," Carter said with a sigh, "I've had enough of your overactive imagination. Please don't even try to tell me that you believe to rumors about this place being haunted."

"Why not? Don't you believe it? Like, why else would Hollow Oak go to so many spooky places?"

"Because it's good for business," was the simple reply.

Shaggy ran over to the window. "But it was right there. You've got to believe me, man."

During the thirty minute break he had, Fred decided to call Terri, his girlfriend. Honestly, he didn't want to talk to her, but he felt the need to discuss that day's events with someone.

Unfortunately, Fred didn't get the response he'd expected once he told his girlfriend about the fight.

"You were with _Blake_?" Terri asked accusingly. "What were you doing with _her_?"

"I told you. Her ex-boyfriend was being an asshole and I helped her out," Fred explained. "I couldn't just stand by and watch her being bullied like that."

"Well don't ever talk to her again," Terri responded nastily.

"Since when can you tell me who to talk to? I'll talk to Daphne if I want."

"_Daphne_? No, you won't."

"Yes, I will, Terri," Fred said firmly. "You can't control everything I do."

"If you want me to be your girlfriend," Terri threatened confidently, "then I _do_ control what you do. So choose now: do you want to be with me or do you want to give up all we have so you can talk to that Blake bitch?"

"Don't call her that!" Fred said angrily. He didn't even know why he was defending Daphne. The last time they had seen each other she had stormed away without thanking him, but for some reason, Fred still felt the need to protect her.

Terri was shocked at Fred's sudden outburst. "Do you have a _thing_ for _Blake_?"

"What? No," Fred denied, blushing slightly. It was a good thing this was a telephone conversation so she couldn't see his face. "I'm just through with you trying to control every aspect of my life. And I hate how you are so mean to people that you don't even know. Daphne could be a really nice person, but you're not willing to give her a chance. I can't do this anymore, Terri. I need a girlfriend who isn't so self-centered and who actually enjoys spending time with me. During the time we've been together, you've proved that you can't meet either of those requirements." Fred paused for a moment, breathing heavily. He realized that he had been shouting and lowered his voice. "And you're just a terrible person," he added.

"So this is how it is? Are you _breaking up with me_?" Terrie asked.

Fred thought this over for a moment. "Yeah, I am."

"Wait a second," she said, sounding slightly hysterical. "No one breaks up with me!"

"I just did," Fred told her, his face gravely serious and almost sympathetic.

Fred hung up, leaving Terri alone and upset, fuming over the events that had just transpired. She couldn't believe that they had broken up because of a fight over Daphne Blake!

The thirty minutes of "cooling off time" was soon over. Daphne miserably walked to the library to meet the rest of "Mystery Inc." She laughed as she thought how tacky the name was.

Daphne was relieved to see that Velma had showed up, for the two were good friends.

"Hey, Velma," Daphne greeted with a smile. She walked over to where the nerdy girl was inspecting the spines of some old books on the shelves. "I'm so glad we're in the same group!"

Velma smiled. "Me, too," she responded. "I was so afraid that I would just be standing awkwardly in the corner. Do you know why we had to wait an extra thirty minutes to have this little meeting?"

"Well," Daphne began sheepishly, looking down at her shoes.

"Did you get in trouble?" Velma asked knowingly. "Daphne, please don't tell me you broke some poor kid's nose again."

As mentioned earlier, Daphne had a temper. "No, I got in a fight with Justin but then Fred Jones barged up and tried to be the hero." Daphne gave a disappointed sigh. "We all got in a big fight." She gestured to the bruise that had nicely formed across her cheekbone.

"Ouch," Velma commented.

"Yeah, it wouldn't have been so bad if Fred hadn't shown up," Daphne continued. It seemed to Velma that she was trying a little too hard to insult Fred.

"Why would that be a bad thing?" Velma asked, a theory forming in her mind. She believed that Daphne was actually grateful to Fred for coming to her rescue, but she was too stubborn to admit it. "He's a regular knight in shining armor. Every girl in this school would die for the chance to have him save her."

Daphne snorted in what seemed like denial. "No way. He's just another shallow, self-centered popular kid who wants nothing more than to be homecoming king and go out with a hot girl."

"Oh," Velma said with an understanding smile. "I see why you hate him so much. It's because he was dating Terri."

"What? No way," she said unconvincingly.

"Yes," Velma said. "You're just mad at him because he went out with her only for her looks and not for her personality. That's sweet. You have a little crush on Fred Jones," she teased. "And you hate him because he went out with that awful girl and not you."

Daphne opened her mouth to retort but the conversation between the two girls was halted as Fred Jones himself walked over. Velma smiled suggestively before excusing herself, much to Daphne's dismay.

"Hey," he said kindly.

Daphne was tempted to roll her eyes. "Hi," she replied shortly.

He was taken aback by her severe tone. Surely she should be grateful for his interference in the fight. "Um, well…"

"I'm sorry, did you want something?" she asked in the same voice.

"Um, aren't you going to thank me for helping you out?" He flashed his dazzling smile, the one that made girls go weak at the knees. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have any affect whatsoever on Daphne.

"Why should I? Because of you, I have this bruise on my cheek," she snapped angrily, trying to remain strong, for his smile truly was fantastic.

Fred's face fell into a confused expression. "How do you figure that? Justin was the one that hit you."

"If you hadn't showed up, the worst thing Justin would have done would be grabbing my arm. But you just _had_ to interfere! I had things under control until you came into the picture."

"You're blaming this on me? Excuse me for trying to rescue a damsel in distress!"

"A damsel in distress? Are we in a renaissance fair? I had things under control."

Fred laughed bitterly, his temper rising though he found it hard to remain mad at her. "Come on, Blake, get over yourself. Any other girl at this school would be ecstatic if I came to their rescue," Fred said, his ego wounded. He was now trying to assure himself, more than Daphne, that he was desirable.

"Don't flatter yourself, _Jones_," Daphne said, lowering her voice and moving closer so that they were a mere foot apart. "Oh, and for future reference, I'm not _just any other girl_."

She walked away, leaving him to be both infuriated and fascinated by the mystery that was Daphne Blake.

The group of students sat silently at a circular table as Carter walked in.

"This day has had a bumpy start," he said. "But I expect you to all be great friends by the time we finish camp. Please try not to kill each other."

After Carter departed from them, there was an awkward silence as no one was sure what to do. Justin occupied himself with texting while Daphne was attracted to a mystery novel on a nearby shelf. When she returned to her seat, she noticed that Fred had coincidentally taken the same book. She didn't want to admit that they may have had something in common. Instead, she rolled her eyes as he looked up to see her reading choice.

Shaggy was hungrily opening some sort of snack while Velma sat with the group, on her laptop.

Shaggy had finished his snack and was now looking around at the other students. "I'm Shaggy Rogers," he said kindly, his voice cracking slightly.

Everyone looked up at him, most with smiles.

"Nice to meet you, Shaggy," Fred responded. "I'm Fred Jones."

"I'm Daphne Blake."

"I'm Velma Dinkley." Velma blushed slightly, subtle enough to avoid the detection of everyone except Daphne.

"Like, what about you?" Shaggy asked Justin.

Justin looked at him with disgust. "Don't talk to me, freak," he said scathingly.

"Justin, what the hell? Be nicer," Daphne commanded.

"Don't tell me what to do, bitch," he spat back.

"Hey," Fred interjected. "Don't you dare talk to her like that!" He wasn't sure why he was defending this girl once again. She had been completely rude to him, though he couldn't help but think that she deserved better than this.

"Look at that," Justin said harshly. "Fred Jones, the stud of Hollow Oak, is already going after another girl."

While Fred glared at Justin, Daphne was confused by the last comment. What had he meant by "already going after another girl?" Did that mean that Fred was single once more? Daphne scolded herself for even thinking about it.

Justin rose from his seat and turned to look at Shaggy, the repulsion coming back onto his face. "Oh, and Scrappy, I don't give a shit who you are," he said before stomping out of the room.

The rest of the gang looked over to Shaggy, evaluating him. His head was low and he looked hurt. Daphne and Velma each put an arm around him soothingly.

"Don't worry about Justin, Shaggy," Daphne said. "He's always been like that."

"No its fine," Shaggy responded dejectedly. "It's true. I'm just another nobody that the popular kids don't care about."

"Well since when do you care what the popular kids think?" Velma asked. "You're better than all of that social hierarchy crap. Just don't let him get to you." She smiled warmly at him. This was enough to brighten his mood.

"You're right, Velma," he said cheerily. "Thanks."

Shaggy and Velma seemed to fully understand each other as they shared the moment. Fred cleared his throat, reminding the two that they weren't alone. Both blushed and hurriedly looked away.

"Well, like, what do you guys want to do?" Shaggy asked hopefully.

"I was going to read this book," Daphne and Fred said simultaneously, causing the latter to smile and the former to roll her eyes.

"And I'm just doing some research," Velma commented.

"Groovy," Shaggy said, no knowing how to occupy himself.

Luckily for him, a distraction soon appeared. "Zoinks! Like, what's that?" he asked, a cowardly fear quickly displaying itself in his voice.

The others looked in the direction in which Shaggy was pointing. In between two bookshelves, a ghostly figure appeared, but, after a split second, their spooky visitor slipped out of sight.


	3. The Mystery Begins

_Chapter 3 The Mystery Begins_

"Jeepers," Daphne said, staring numbly at the spot where the spirit had been. Everyone was doing the same, their jaws dropping and fear flowing through their veins.

"Jinkies," commented Velma.

Fred and Velma were the first to rise from the table, curious as to what that strange apparition was. The two of them looked down by the bookshelves where it had been and then glanced back to Shaggy and Daphne.

Daphne, intrigued by the fact that there might actually be something mysterious going on in her life, also got up from her seat. Shaggy was now the only member still sitting down. He looked terrified.

"Come on, Shaggy," Fred said. "Don't you want to find out what that was?"

"Like, don't we already know? It's Gr-Grimm's ghost," Shaggy responded, his voice trembling. Clearly he was not used to such exciting things happening.

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Daphne told him.

"Like, I don't think he got the memo," Shaggy whimpered.

"Come on," Velma urged. She touched his arm lightly.

This seemed to have some sort of encouraging affect on him, for Shaggy now consented to go along with the group, though he was complaining the whole time.

"I think it went this way," Fred said, leading the others.

They went in between the two bookshelves where they had seen the figure, but from there, two paths could be taken.

"I think we should split up," Fred told Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy. "Daphne and I will go this way." He pointed to the path leading to the right. "Velma, you and Shaggy can go to the left."

Daphne opened her mouth to argue but was seduced by the intrigue of the mystery at hand and seemed to completely forget how much she hated Fred.

The group went off in the designated directions. Daphne and Fred remained mostly silent, searching diligently for any sort of clues. Velma and Shaggy exchanged small conversation, mostly Shaggy complaining of hunger and fright.

Daphne and Fred reached another break in the paths. They were trying to decide which way to go.

"I have a hunch that thing went this way," Fred told his partner, pointing down one of the isles.

"And you're just going to trust this 'hunch?' " Daphne asked skeptically.

"Yes, I am," he replied simply, going in the direction he felt was right.

Daphne made a mental note that he should be admired for standing up for what he believes. She decided to follow him. They were led toward a locked door with a sign that read: KEEP OUT.

"Do you think it went in there?" Fred asked.

"Only one way to find out," Daphne said. She knelt by the lock and took out a bobby-pin.

"What are you doing?" Fred wondered.

"I'm picking the lock." She took one look at his worried face and added, "You can leave if that bothers you, Jones."

He thought this over for a moment but gave no response. However, he made no attempt to leave.

A moment later, Daphne had managed to open to door, which led them to an office that, by the looks of it, had not been used since the time when Grimm owned the place.

"Hey, look what I found," Fred said. He was holding a torn piece of white cloth that looked as though it could have belonged to the spook they had seen earlier.

Fred, who had his back to the door, now looked up at Daphne, noticing that she wasn't commenting on his find.

"What's wrong?" he asked, for her face had gone pale and her ocean blue eyes were wide with fear.

Fred slowly turned around, following Daphne's outstretched finger. His eyes rested upon the strange figure they had seen before. Its uniform and hat matched those of the captain of a ship, though the clothes were eerily white. The figure also had something covering its face, what looked like a cloth mask. Overall, the ghoulish sight would have been quite unremarkable had it not been for the creepy white fog that crawled at its feet.

Fred backed up, trembling slightly in the presence of such a scary figure. He glanced down at the ghost's pants and was surprised to find a tear the size and shape of the piece of cloth they had discovered, meaning that their clue was definitely from this ghastly sight.

"Leave here today," the phantom hissed, "or you shall pay." It then gave some sort of bizarre chuckle.

Before either Daphne or Fred could do anything else, a puff of smoke surrounded the figure, making it invisible to them. A moment later, fog and smoke had vanished, as well as the specter.

"Where'd it go?" asked Daphne. She caught herself holding onto Fred's arm and quickly let go.

"Let's go find out."

The two of them searched everywhere but came up empty-handed. In the end, the only thing that they had successfully taken from the search was the piece of cloth that had been found in the office.

"Shaggy and I weren't able to find anything," Velma informed the others when they all met up back at the table. It seemed strange that only an hour had passed since Justin had stormed off.

"Well Fred and I found this piece of cloth that was torn off the ghost's outfit in this old locked office," Daphne said. Fred was pleasantly surprised that he had used his first name instead of "Jones."

"I think we need to check out that office. If it was locked, our frightening friend must be hiding something in there," Velma commented.

"Good thinking, Velma," Fred said. He led the others two to the office and opened the door. They all looked around.

"Like, this is creepy, man," Shaggy said. "I say we split and get a snack."

"No, Shaggy, we have to look for some clues," Velma replied. "There is no way that that thing is a real ghost. There has to be some explanation to all of this." She turned to Fred. "Where exactly did you find it?"

"It was caught on that nail sticking out of the side of the desk," he told her, indicating the spot.

"That definitely proves that he was in here," Velma concluded. "But why? What's so important about this old office?"

Daphne was searching near a pile of old newspapers. She stepped down on a certain area and soon discovered that the floor opened up to swallow her. She found herself plunging through the darkness. As she hit the bottom, multiple parts of her body ached.

"Where's Daphne?" Fred asked, surprisingly worried. He looked around but could find no sign of the red-head anywhere.

"She was, like, here just a minute ago," Shaggy said.

"Help!" Daphne shouted up, unsure if they could hear her. "I'm down here."

"Daphne! What happened?" Fred called, confused and anxious. He could hear her voice but couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"I'm not sure. One moment I was searching for clues and the next I was falling through the floor."

Velma looked around the space where Daphne had been shortly before she disappeared. She soon discovered a trap door and alerted the others. After several minutes of failed attempts, they were finally able to get it open.

"Don't worry, Daphne," Fred told her. "We're coming to get you."

They climbed down a ladder that rested beneath the entrance of the trap door and found her in what looked like an old tunnel that had been built under the building long ago. A dirt floor was surrounded by wooden walls and a wooden ceiling. Cobwebs hung in multiple places and there seemed to be many other spots where trapdoors led into there.

"Like, this place is totally creepier than the old office," Shaggy whined. "We should just go back. We, like, don't even know where we are."

"Jinkies!" Velma said after taking a look around. "I think we're in a tunnel that was built under Grimm Manor when it was still owned by Robert Grimm fifty years ago."

"He was the one from those old ghost stories, right?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, he was. They say that Grimm locked himself away in his mansion. He claimed it was haunted but he said he couldn't leave. Eventually he was driven insane by the supposed ghosts. Shortly after, he died mysteriously. The story says that Grimm's ghost still haunts the halls of this building, still searching for something and willing to dispose of anyone who gets in his way."

"Like, zoinks!" Shaggy said. "Then I say we stop trespassing and scram!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Shaggy," Daphne said to the boy who had now gone pale. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Like, why don't you tell that to him?"

Shaggy was pointing at the apparition, who by now was standing behind Daphne. She screamed.

"Run!" Fred shouted, grabbing Daphne's arm to pull her away from Grimm's ghost. The gang had no trouble following this command. They sprinted in the opposite direction, the ghost right on their tails. Shaggy proved to be the fastest runner. He was also the skinniest, giving him a small advantage. Fred, Daphne, and Velma were close behind. The four of them came to an intersection in the tunnel. Without thinking, Velma and Shaggy went one way while Daphne and Fred went the other. Both pairs seemed to think they had lost their follower so they slowed down.

"Like, what the hell is going on here?" Shaggy asked, his voice cracking.

"I have no idea," the brunette next to him responded breathlessly. Velma was thinking what would be done in one of her mystery novels. "I think we need to get out of here and evaluate the situation."

"I'm down for that, as long as we get out _soon_!"

Meanwhile, Daphne and Fred were walking when suddenly Daphne found herself tripping over something that was on the dirt floor. Fred rushed over to help her up, offering his hand.

"I'm fine," she said angrily. Obviously, Daphne didn't like appearing weak or distressed, though she often did seem to be the only one running into trouble.

Fred laughed and received a glare in return.

Daphne looked down at what had caused her to fall. It was a wire. "Fred, look at this." She lifted the wire with a finger, showing it to her partner.

"Now why would a wire be down in this old tunnel?" Fred followed it with his eyes, finding that it was attached to some sort of camera-looking-thing. "We should get Velma over here to look at this."

But any further discussion of the strange find was prevented as an unwelcome visitor appeared a few feet away from them, a foggy mist hovering at its feet which were a good two feet off the ground.

The two ran as fast as they could, trying to escape Grimm's ghost, who was laughing that insane laugh of his. It sent shivers down Daphne's spine.

Fred kept a safe distance from Grimm as the ghost slowed down. He stopped running but made sure that, if the spirit began chasing them once more, he would be ready to flee with Daphne. Grimm noticed that Fred was protectively keeping his hand on Daphne's arm.

It cackled insanely at the sight. "For now I'll give the young couple a rest," it said in a high voice, though the noise didn't seem to be coming from the ghost. "But your loyalty will soon be put to the test." Grimm gave one more crazed laugh before he floated right through the wall!

"Oh my God," Daphne said. "He just walked through a solid piece of earth! That-that's not possible," she cried breathlessly.

"I'm sure there's some sort of explanation," Fred assured her, seeing how truly bothered she really was. He decided to mention something that had been nagging in the back of his mind, hoping that maybe she would be distracted by the problems he presented. "There is one thing that bothers me about our ghastly friend," he began. "Why was he hovering above the ground now, but walking earlier?"

"And what did he mean by 'your loyalty will be tested?' Our loyalty to what?" Daphne wondered.

As these two mulled over that predicament, Velma and Shaggy were searching for clues.

"Something about this seems off," Velma told her partner. "I don't understand why Grimm's ghost would suddenly begin appearing now. Don't you agree, Shaggy?"

Shaggy didn't respond, but instead there was that chilling chuckle that accompanied their ghoulish follower. She looked up to find that her companion was trembling, face to face with Grimm.

"Like, I say we scram, _now_!" Shaggy shouted, wasting no time running away from the ghost. Velma didn't think twice; she followed closely behind him.

"He he he," Grimm cackled.

Velma looked behind her and saw that the ghost was actually flying! How was that possible since she _knew_ it wasn't real?

Grimm laughed. Then, he spoke in a voice that seemed to be coming from all directions. "Stay away or you will pay," it told them before vanishing into thin air.

Shaggy gulped. "Like, I say we listen to the creepy ghost."

Velma and Shaggy realized that they had not stopped running even though their pursuer was no longer with them. Unfortunately, this realization came too late and the partners smacked right into Daphne and Fred, causing everyone to fall to the dirt floor.

"Ow," Daphne said, rubbing her head. "What was that for?"

"Grimm was, like, right behind us," Shaggy explained. "But then he disappeared. And he was _flying_. You all said it was a fake ghost, but how can anyone fake _that_?" Shaggy looked close to hysterics.

"There has to be some explanation," Velma mused.

"We were chased by Grimm, too," Fred told the other two. "He said some sort of weird rhyme before walking straight through the wall."

"But how is that possible?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know," Fred admitted. He paused and then added, "Well, gang, it looks like we've got a mystery on our hands."


	4. The Clue That Went Unnoticed

_Chapter 4 The Clue That Went Unnoticed_

"First things first," Fred told the others. "We need to get out of this tunnel and sort through everything in a place where we'll be alone."

"Why don't we, like, tell Carter or something?" Shaggy suggested hopefully. "He'd have to do something about this."

The others gave him a skeptical look. "You can try that if you want, but I doubt anyone will ever believe this," Fred told him. "I mean, if I hadn't been here myself, I never would've believed it!"

Shaggy then thought back to one of Carter's last comments to him. "Please don't even try to tell me that you believe to rumors about this place being haunted."

"You're right," Shaggy said with a sigh. "Well, I guess you can all come to my room. It's, like, totally alone and I have no roommate."

"Thanks, Shaggy," Fred said gratefully. "We'll meet there at ten."

A few hours later, the gang met up in Shaggy's room.

"R'oh boy, r'oh boy, r'oh boy," Scooby shouted as he saw the teenagers pile into the room. He wasted no time in jumping on them and looking for some affection.

"Jeez, Shaggy," Fred said with a laugh as the Great Dane bounded over to him. "I didn't know you had a talking dog. I didn't think that was possible. But, then again, this day has been one where the impossible seem to happen."

"He's so cute," Daphne said, scratching behind Scooby's ears.

While the others paid attention to the dog, Velma sat down at Shaggy's desk and took out a pen and a piece of paper. Shaggy stood over her as she quickly scribbled down everything that they had discovered that day.

_Tunnels under Grimm Manor_

_Torn piece of ghost's costume_

_Ghost walks through walls/flies_

_Speaks in poems_

_Some sort of camera in the tunnel_

_Has successfully scared off multiple visitors over the past year_

"But how does this all add up?" Velma asked, more to herself that to the others.

"Beats me," Fred said. "I think we need to brush up on our history."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Daphne butted in, stepping away from Scooby and walking toward Fred. She pulled a few books out of her bag and handed them to Velma. "I checked these out from the library. They're supposedly histories of Robert Grimm."

"Jinkies, get a load of this," Velma said. "It says here that Grimm was the captain of a ship."

"Like, that would explain his funky outfit," Shaggy commented.

"It also says that when he went out to sea, he left behind the love of his life. He promised to come back for her and build a house for them to live in," Velma continued, "but when he returned, she had died. Grimm built this building as the house he promised to give to his love, in the hope that she would come back to him one day. After the construction was complete, Grimm claimed that he could see her ghost walking through the hallways, but she was disappointed so he kept building. There are many secret passageways and such in the Manor. After many years, Grimm's love never seemed happy with his work so he drove himself mad trying to make it better. One day, he was found dead, clutching her picture."

Daphne shivered. "Jeepers, that's creepy."

"I'll say," Fred added.

A low rumbling noise came from the corner of the room. All eyes were drawn in that direction. Scooby-Doo sat there, whimpering.

"Like, what's wrong, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.

"R-I'm r-hungry," he whined.

The rest of the gang laughed. They all agreed to go down to the kitchen and see if there was anything the dog could munch on.

"D-D-Daphne," a red-headed boy in the kitchen stammered. He wiped some flour off of his freckled face.

"Hi, Jimmy," she responded, uninterested.

Fred found that he didn't like the way this kid was looking at Daphne. Luckily for him, she didn't enjoy the attention either. Unfortunately, Jimmy Walters, the young chef at Grimm Manor, didn't seem to notice her obvious distaste for him.

While Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby inspected the refrigerator, Jimmy made his way over to his crush. However, Fred was hovering close by, making sure this little nerd didn't try anything with her.

"S-so, Daphne," he said, "have I showed you my newest project?" Before she could answer, he continued. "It's a new form of holographic projection that makes the image appear more life-like."

"Fascinating," Daphne replied with no real emotion. She looked helplessly over at Fred. Her pleading eyes were hard to resist.

Fred made his way over to Jimmy and Daphne just in time to hear the boy ask her out.

"Jimmy, I'm really sorry," she said, truly feeling bad about rejecting him. "But I can't go out with you?"

"Why not?" he asked, looking more enraged than upset.

"Be-because I-I'm already dating someone else," she lied hurriedly.

"Who?" The boy's face was turning a shade of red that nearly matched his hair. He was really taking this terribly.

"Fred," Daphne fibbed once more. She grabbed Fred's arm and pulled him close. "Yeah, so I can't really date anyone else right now."

"Fine," Jimmy shouted, storming out of sight.

Daphne sighed with relief. She realized that she was still clinging onto Fred and immediately released him. She blushed slightly and joined the others.


	5. Rescuing the Damsel in Distress

_Chapter 5 Rescuing the Damsel in Distress_

The next day, Fred woke up in a daze. He almost believed that the night before had been some bizarre dream, though he soon noticed that, beside his bed, was the piece of cloth found in the office. He sighed as he got up and groggily changed clothes.

Fred walked to Shaggy's room, where the gang had agreed to meet to continue their investigation. When he walked in, he found that Shaggy and Velma were present, as well as Scooby-Doo, but Daphne wasn't.

"Has anybody seen Daphne?" he asked, the familiar worry creeping into his voice.

"Like, no, man, but she's probably just late," Shaggy said, obviously unconcerned. He didn't seem to realize that something terrible could have happened to her.

"I'm just going to check to see if she's in her room," Fred told the others, closing the door behind him. He practically sprinted to Daphne's room on the first floor.

He knocked on her door but there was no answer. He banged his fist harder against the wood, which surprisingly caused it to open. Fred looked around the room and found that books were scattered across the floor and there seemed to be sign of a struggle.

He wasted no time in running back upstairs to get Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby.

"Alright, Scooby," Shaggy instructed the dog, "it's time to put that nose to the test. See if you can't sniff out anything that'll help us find Daphne."

A moment later, Scooby's body went stiff as he pointed in the direction of a clue. The others raced over and found a piece of paper with a not written in creepy writing:

_Fred was not fit for Daphne Blake,_

_So it was she that I had to take._

"Jinkies," Velma said.

"What does this mean?" Fred cried. "I don't understand what that creep is trying to say!"

"It means that he has Daphne," Velma informed him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The ghost also seems to think that you and Daphne are together, but he doesn't believe you're right for her. That's why he took her."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Fred said. "I mean, why would a fifty year old ghost care about Daphne's love life?"

"Very good point," Velma commented thoughtfully. She looked as though she were thinking something over. "Maybe we should look around some more," she suggested.

After a moment, Scooby-Doo yelped to get their attention. "Rook what r-I found," he said excitedly, pointing toward the floor.

"Like, zoinks, it's another trap door!" Shaggy exclaimed. "But, like, why would there be one in Daphne's room?"

"I have a hunch that we'll find similar passageways in almost all of these downstairs rooms. This must be how the ghost gets from place to place so quickly!" Fred cried, excited that he had figured a piece of the puzzle.

"Maybe if we go through this trapdoor, we'll be closer to finding Daphne," Velma said brightly. She immediately began working on a way to get the door to open.

"Like, do we have to go?" Shaggy asked. "Scooby and I'll just stay here and guard the crime scene," he suggested hopefully.

Velma looked around the room for something that would motivate them. She found a box of dog treats scattered among the other items that littered the floor. "Would you two do it for a treat?" she asked.

"Reah, reah, reah," Scooby responded, his mouth watering. Velma tossed a couple treats in his mouth. "Scooby snacks," the dog said simply.

"Like, let me try some of those," Shaggy said, grabbing the box from Velma. He popped a few in his mouth and was surprised how delicious they were. "Alright, like, I guess we'll go into the creepy tunnel and find Daphne."

When the gang reached the tunnel, they were greeted by Grimm's ghost.

He no longer hovered above the ground, but instead was standing on two feet. "I see Fred has come to take, my dear, sweet Daphne Blake," Grimm said. "But know this, oh stupid friend, you shall not steal her from me again!" He gave one last laugh before he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Like, this ghost really has a thing for Daphne," Shaggy said.

"Yeah, I wonder what that's about," Fred agreed. "It doesn't make any sense."

Suddenly, Velma's face lit up. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Fred," she told him. "I think things are beginning to add up."

A strange moan cut off any more conversation.

"Jinkies, I wonder what that could be!" Velma cried.

"There's only one way to find out." Fred led the others in the direction that the noise was coming from. It brought him to a dimly lit room. In it was a figure that appeared to be a ghost. Something about it was off, though.

"Zoinks! Let's get out of here!" Shaggy shouted. He and Scooby prepared to leave but were stopped by Velma.

"Shaggy, I don't think it's a ghost," she told them as she walked closer to the figure. "This is just an old sheet that's been tossed on top of someone."

Fred ran up and pulled the cover off, finding Daphne, gagged and tied to a chair. He wasted no time in loosening her bonds. "Daph, are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," she said, hugging him. "Thanks, Freddy."

Fred was so shocked by this action that he didn't do anything for a few seconds, but soon he wrapped his arms around her as well. "Anytime," he whispred into her hair, savoring the moment.

"Like, guys," Shaggy interrupted them. "I'd hate to break up your bonding time, but could we get out of here?"

Fred cleared his throat. "Right," he said. "I think we're getting closer to solving this mystery. We need to get out of here and think of a way to trap that creep."


	6. A Change in the Plan

_Chapter 6 A Change in the Plan_

"You girls ready?" Fred called to Daphne and Velma.

They were setting their plan in motion down in the tunnels, certain that the ghost would come after them. Scooby and Shaggy were the bait. They would lead Grimm down a tunnel, toward an intersection. There, Daphne and Velma would be holding a rope a few inches above the ground. Shaggy and Scooby would jump over it, but the ghost would hopefully trip and fall. The two cowardly members of the team would then dart out of the way while the masked man landed directly underneath a large, circular, wooden chandelier hanging from the roof of the tunnel. Fred would drop it down onto Grimm, trapping him, and then pull the chandelier back toward the ceiling, thus suspending their prisoner, preventing escape.

"Daph," Velma whispered, making sure that no one could hear their conversation. "Do you really think this'll work? How do we know that Fred's plan is as foolproof as he says?"

"I trust him," Daphne said simply to her skeptical friend.

As Velma waited for the trap to be set in motion, she began to think about Daphne's comment. This was a big step in Fred and Daph's relationship: going from hating each other just yesterday to forming a bond of trust today. Velma began to wonder if this little crush that they obviously had on each other was turning into something more.

Her thoughts were soon side-tracked by shouting from Shaggy and Scooby. Clearly the ghost was on their tail.

As the pair of cowardly crime-fighters came into view, Velma and Daphne raised the rope and pulled it tight. Unfortunately, it didn't look like Shaggy and Scooby remembered the plan at all. Instead of paying attention to the trap, they were looking behind them at the ghost, eyes wide with fear.

"Shaggy, Scooby, jump!" Velma and Daphne commanded quietly.

Either the two chickens didn't hear or they were in such a fit of terror that they couldn't comprehend what was being said to them. Consequently, Shaggy and Scooby tripped over the rope, alerting the phantom to the trap. It skidded to a stop while Scooby and Shaggy soared through the air and landed right under the chandelier. There were so many shouts and yelps, so much confusion, that Fred couldn't tell that it was his teammates that he was now going to be imprisoning. He released the chandelier and dangled the wimps in midair.

Daphne and Velma ran over to the scene, quickly explaining to Fred that they had captured the wrong people. Instead of being incarcerated as they had hoped, the real ghost now moved over and grabbed Daphne from behind.

"You almost had me that time," it said to Fred, "but now, loser, she is mine."

If Fred wasn't so worried about Daphne, he would have laughed at how juvenile this specter was beginning to sound, calling him "loser."

"Let go of her right now," Fred growled, advancing on the spook with a newfound bravery.

The ghost cackled. "Never," it hissed.

"Like, wait a second," Shaggy called from the ceiling. He and Scooby were watching the scene unfold from a position directly above Grimm. "Why didn't he talk in rhymes this time?"

"Good point, Shaggy," Velma said with a warm smile. She then turned to the "ghost." "I'm starting to understand this whole thing."

"While you put two and two together," Fred said in a low, dangerous voice, "I'll try to get Daphne back from this freak-show."

"Freddy, help me," she whined. The ghost tightened his grip on her.

"Don't worry, Daph," Fred soothed. "It'll all be fine." He looked around for some sort of weapon to help him rescue her. Something from above caught his attention. Shaggy and Scooby were slipping out of the chandelier, their feet sliding within Fred's reach and almost touching Grimm's head.

"She never did belong with you, Jones," the ghost snarled. "She's mine and you'll never get her back."

A cocky smirk spread across Fred's face as he replied, "I wouldn't be so sure of that." He tugged on Shaggy and Scooby's dangling feet, pulling them out of the circular prison and causing them to collapse on Grimm's head.

Daphne had been released but was now tangled up in the dog-pile. Fred rushed over to her as Velma ran to Shaggy.

"Are you okay?" they asked simultaneously, causing the other person to laugh.

"It's over!" Shaggy cried, his excitement contagious. The others seemed to now realize that all this terror and fear they had been dealing with was over. They had no reason to be scared anymore. Daphne was safe, the spook was captured, and, even though the mystery had been fun to solve, they were all glad it was over.

Daphne ran up to Fred and hugged him tightly while Velma did the same to Shaggy. In the euphoria of the moment, Fred almost didn't realize what he was doing as he pulled out of the hug and pulled Daphne closer, so their faces were a mere inch apart. Before he could stop himself, he kissed her. Daphne's shock soon wore off and she allowed herself to enjoy the moment before Fred pulled away.

His face was flushed bright red and in his eyes was a mix of happiness and regret. "I-I…sorry…I, err, didn't," he stammered, quite unable to form coherent sentences.

"Freddy," Daphne said to him softly, staring deep into his eyes. "That was a really brave thing you did there. You were willing to fight the phantom to save me. Thank you." She pressed her lips to his cheek for a brief second.

At this, Fred blushed even more (if that was even possible). He smiled sheepishly and glanced up to see what the others were doing.

Velma gave Shaggy a quick peck on the cheek. He looked both surprised and confused.

"Li-like, what was that for?" he asked.

"You helped catch the bad guy," Velma explained.

Shaggy opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off as Scooby cleared his throat loudly, reminding everyone of the matter at hand. The dog was now sitting proudly on top of the garish ghoul who had caused them so much trouble over the past few days.

"Right," Fred said, looking a little flustered. He led the gang over to their masked captive. They dragged their prisoner up to the main part of the house.

Carter noticed them and ran over. "What the bloody hell is this?"

"This," Velma told him, "is someone who's been posing as Grimm's ghost for a little over a year. Recently, he's been terrorizing us, mainly Daphne, but we were able to capture him."

"Well, who is it?" Carter asked, curious.

Before that question could be answered, two police officers came into the room.

"We got a call that the 'Grimm ghost' had been captured," one officer informed them.

"I called them," Fred told his team. "Though I'd hardly still call this guy a 'ghost.' I think we have a pretty clear picture of who it is behind the mask."

"Yes, I think it's time to see who this ghost really is," Velma announced as she reached down to pull the cloth covering off of "Grimm's" face.

A shocked gasp ran through the gathering of onlookers as they saw the culprit.

"It can't be!" Daphne cried.


	7. The Reveal and the Explanation

_Chapter 7 The Reveal and the Explanation_

Velma pulled the mask off to reveal none other than the nerdy, awkward Jimmy Walters.

"It can't be!" Daphne shouted.

"But, like, why would he do this?" Shaggy asked, thoroughly confused.

"Reah, why?" Scooby spoke up.

"At first," Velma began, "I believe this whole charade began as a sort of entertainment. Jimmy would dress up as the ghost and scare away a few tourists so he could have a good laugh."

"It was funny," Jimmy mumbled.

"But recently, Hollow Oak Campers were staying in this building and Jimmy met Daphne. Obviously he fell head over heels for her. Daphne, however, wasn't interested so she told Jimmy that she was dating Fred. This made him angry and that's why he kidnapped her using the secret passageways that go under the first floor of this building."

"But how did you know it was Jimmy?" an officer inquired.

"My first clue was that the ghost had been haunting this place for slightly over a year, the same amount of time that Jimmy had been working here," Velma informed. "Also, the ghost said that Fred was 'not fit to have Daphne.' There was only one person that thought those two were going out and that was Jimmy. During our conversation with him in the kitchen, he mentioned his latest project, a new form of holographic projection that makes images appear more real. I didn't think much of it then but now I understand that this was now the ghost appeared to be flying in the tunnels. It wasn't Jimmy but a holograph. We could've figured out the mystery a lot sooner if that clue hadn't gone unnoticed."

"But, then, like, how the heck did he disappear in the library?" Shaggy asked.

"He used small pellets that release smoke. As soon as he would throw them on the floor, he would use a trapdoor to escape unnoticed, making it look like he disappeared." Velma smiled brightly.

"Wow," an officer commented. "He went through all of this trouble for a laugh and a girl?"

"And I would've gotten away with it, too," Jimmy growled, "if it weren't for you meddling kids and your dumb dog!"

The kids watched as Jimmy was hauled into a police car. They smiled at the close of the mystery, though all were secretly wishing that this could happen more often.

Carter walked up to them and said, "You kids really have a talent. I wouldn't waste it."

Before they could even respond, he left.

"That was fun," Fred said to the others.

"Yeah, I had a blast," Daphne commented, resulting in a laugh from Fred. "What's so funny?"

"You had fun even though you were kidnapped by a crazy ghost?" Fred snorted. "Maybe this is why you're so danger-prone, Daphne. You enjoy it!"

She punched him in the arm. "It was better than just reading about mysteries."

"It sure was," Velma piped up.

"How would you guys like to do it again?" Fred asked hopefully. "We could help out people who need mysteries solved."

"If we do," Daphne told him, "we'll need a cool name." She thought for a moment and then remembered that their group for camp had already been given a name. "Guys, why don't we call ourselves Mystery, Inc.?"

Fred mulled this over for a moment. "Mystery, Inc.," he said softly. "I like it!"

"Like, I don't know," Shaggy said, uncertain.

"Reah, r-it was scary," Scooby whined.

"Well, Scooby," Velma said, pulling out a box of dog treats. "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"

The dog gulped down the offering and smiled. "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!" he shouted.


End file.
